Bitcoin Regains a Positive Coinbase Premium After Spending Weeks Below Par

Bitcoin is beginning to show its first clear signs of renewed U.S. demand, with the Coinbase Premium Index finally turning positive after almost four weeks of negative readings.

The shift emerged early Saturday in Asia as BTC traded close to $91,000. The Coinbase Premium — which measures the price differential between Coinbase and the broader global market — has long been used as a proxy for U.S. capital flows. Prolonged negative values typically indicate domestic outflows or risk-off behavior among U.S. institutions. A positive and sustained premium, however, has historically aligned with ETF inflows and improving dollar liquidity.

Thursday marked the first time since late October that Coinbase spot prices consistently traded above global averages, pointing to a return of U.S. buy-side strength.

Additional market data supports the move. Binance’s stablecoin reserves climbed to a record $51.1 billion in November, signaling substantial sidelined liquidity ready to re-enter the market. Options desks also note a reset in positioning: GSR reported that speculative long positions have largely been cleared and that softening skew and reduced demand for downside hedges reflect improving conditions and a market “positioned for growth.”

Research groups Kronos and Presto echoed this view earlier in the week, framing bitcoin’s recent lift as a standard oversold bounce following two weeks of leverage-heavy washouts.

Still, BTC remains locked between major support and resistance levels. According to FxPro analyst Alex Kuptsikevich, the $90,000 zone — previously a strong reaction area — could now act as resistance. Bulls will likely need a decisive break above $95,000 to regain trend momentum. A slip below $87,000, on the other hand, risks opening a move back toward $80,000 and extending November’s capitulation cycle.

Sentiment, too, is only modestly improving. The fear index has risen to 25, moving out of extreme fear but still signaling caution. Meanwhile, just one out of seven large-cap tokens posted gains in the past 24 hours — a sign that the broader market has yet to join bitcoin’s rebound even as total crypto capitalization holds near $3.1 trillion.